The People Behind the Numbers

Forecast.diabetes: 8/14/13

Before the landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), Carolyn Wolf was not a huge fan of diabetes dos and don’ts. “At that time, they gave us only so many calories. I could be compliant with injections, but staying to a particular calorie allotment was difficult,” she says. “I felt like I was in prison when I was on that type of therapy.”

While studying to become a dietitian, Wolf had an internship at a hospital. “I saw firsthand people with long-term complications,” she says. “It was very frightening to me.” Wolf wanted to do everything she could to avoid that fate.

After reading an ad in a Detroit newspaper, Wolf thought DCCT could give her an edge against diabetes. “I was really jazzed to be in a research study,” she says. “It was a perfect way to learn how to take care of my diabetes. Plus, if this study proved to be something good, I could benefit other people with diabetes in the future.” Read More